U.S. Vice President Mike Pence says Washington will continue to cooperate with Seoul and Tokyo to achieve the goal of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea. 

According to U.S. media outlets, Pence made the remark in a meeting with journalists at a military air base in Alaska on Sunday, before embarking on a trip to Asia and the Pacific. 

He said they will maintain their pressure campaign to draw the North to the negotiating table. 

With his diplomatic trip set to begin in Japan ahead of Singapore, Australia and Papua New Guinea, Pence said he and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will discuss their continued efforts toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. 

The Washington Post reported last week that Pence said the U.S. will continue to exert unprecedented diplomatic and economic pressure on the North.